


Homeward Bound

by Archivus



Series: Reports from Space [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, IN SPACE, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22804072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archivus/pseuds/Archivus
Summary: The team on Zephyr One is scouring the vast universe looking for Fitz.  What happen to them while doing so. And their journey home.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons (minor)
Series: Reports from Space [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612480
Comments: 12
Kudos: 59





	1. On the Way To Fitz

**Author's Note:**

> Some of the dialogues were taken directly from the show. So, I do not own them.

“Piper? Talk to me! Are they still on our tail? Piper!”

“Yeah, I hear you, Davis! Give me a second, breathe! I'm trying to cool the drive lines.” She was spraying the extinguisher on the too hot drive lines. The high speed chase by the Confederacy, the multiple jumps and the constant cloaking and barracks of attacks for the past few months brought a toll on the Zephyr One.

“Look, I ran a multi-spec scan, 360, 3D.”

“And?” She didn’t answer for a few heartbeats as she was still studying the reading.

“And?” Davis sounded impatient.

There was no one on their tail. “Nothing. Nothing, we're clear!”

“Well, don't put your feet up yet. We've still got to put this thing down in unwelcome territory.” Davis cautioned her.

Knowing that anything could happen, Piper called on Daisy. They needed to be ready to crash-land on the planet they predetermined to have the intel they’d need to find Fitz. She was sure she heard the cat meowed irritatingly in the background. They must have interrupted his nap then. Or he was simply annoyed that he had to hide in his favourite human’s quarter. That cat really was a demanding diva.

“Not my best.” Tried as he might, it was not his best attempt at landing the Zephyr.

“Not your best, Davis!”

“Thanks, sidekick!”

Not even a minute after he got a breather, the communication channel beeped and a man appeared on the screen. Way to go for their first visit to the planet. They were reprimanded by the D’Rillian authority for violating the galactic ordinance because they entered the planet’s atmosphere without clearance. Right. When would they have the time to ask for one? They were under pursuit for goodness sake!

~~~~####~~~~

She was ready in no time after Piper relayed the message that they’d be landing soon. She just had to deal with a cranky alien cat before she could be on the welcoming party. That took her petting him on his belly a few times, upending a whole box of cat toys for him to play with and a promise of cuddles and foods before he eventually hissed and then ignored her – a sign that ‘ _okay, you can go now_.’ Really? Who was the boss on this ship?

Not long after they landed, the authority boarded the Zephyr: an arrogant-looking man and his goons in hoodie. They looked kind of ridiculous.

“I'm unarmed.” Well, truthfully, she didn’t need a gun or a sword. Her body is her weapon, but these people didn’t need to know that.

“Present authorization, Terran.” The one without a hood demanded arrogantly.

She said she didn’t have any and tried to appeal to him that they had to land there because they were in need of fuel. However, it didn’t seem to work as he ordered his underling to check the data-stream on her and continued to mock her. Oh, if only he knew the truth.

Apparently, her name was notorious enough by this point that the hooded guy with the tablet gasped and seemed frightened when he showed his boss the information.

“Quake.” He spat.

Daisy didn’t wait a second longer. She instantaneously disassembled their weapons and the henchmen scurried away. Wise men indeed. The boss, however, was not. It didn’t take her long to incapacitate and tie him up.

They interrogated their prisoner ruthlessly. They found out that the other half of Fitz’s ship was there on D’Rillian. So, they went to check on it with the hope that Fitz’s cryochamber was somewhere there and intact. Unfortunately, their search led to more disappointment. The cryochamber was there but it was empty. A bloodstain on it was very disconcerting. This despaired them so much that they decided to bring it onto the Zephyr and continued looking for clues as to his whereabouts.

~~~~####~~~~

Daisy, Piper and Davis were discussing their current situation. They were worried about Simmons who for months never let any doubt of Fitz’s possible death crept in, not even for a second. They theorized that it was partially because she’d totally lose it if she did. However, now that they found the other half of the space ship sans Fitz, they were afraid that she might be losing hope.

They did find a launch mechanism, hopeful that maybe there was an escape pod or something. But they had no idea how to go from there. Therefore, they decided to head home and regroup. Daisy thanked them both for staying with them on this journey.

They were interrupted when Simmons rushed in and went straight to the computer. She found an engraving inside the cryochamber and the name of the place it was made. She inferred that Fitz must have gone there.

She insisted that they went there, but the others disagreed as Naro-Atzia was in deep, deep space. They had to consider heading home and regrouping before they jumped into the juicy center of the Milky Way. However, Simmons was adamant that they can't let this trail go cold. They had a heated argument over that.

“Simmons, we have to take a step back. The Zephyr is really banged up, and we don't know how many jumps we have left.” Daisy tried to reason with her.

“The Zephyr is banged up because everywhere we go, Quake leaves a wake of destruction!”

“I've explained my philosophy on that. They need to respect how strong we are.”

“We're down to four people!”

“Exactly! That is the point! They don't know that!”

Their standoff was rudely interrupted by the sound of the alarm blaring, indicating a close proximity with another vessel. As luck would have it, it was the Confederacy, and it was not just a scouting ship. It was a destroyer. They powered down the Zephyr and waited until the destroyer passed by them.

“If they didn't think we were so strong, maybe they'd send smaller ships.” Simmons’ cutting remark stung but Daisy just rolled her eyes at that. She was too tired to deal with that. Besides, how many times did she have to explain? How many times they escaped troubles due to their reputation? Maybe it was time the biochemist used her brain and toned down the acerbic words a bit.

Their prayer to be unnoticed was unheard as the ship turned and prepared to fire at them. The four of them scrambled to power on the Zephyr and tried to evade the turrets of attacks. Realizing that their vessel had no chance against such enemy, they jumped.

~~~~####~~~~

“Simmons. What did you just do?”

Davis was so peeved and called Simmons reckless and dangerous. Piper angrily said that the scientist deliberately disobeyed Daisy’s orders and that she seriously compromised their chances of getting home. True. They were almost out of food, and they didn't even know how many more jumps they can make. The duo suggested that Simmons needed to be confined in the cargo hold as she put their lives and the mission at risk.

“Fitz is the mission. We didn't come this far to give up.” Simmons argued. Then, she took a step further by calling them cowards.

That was it. Simmons was just digging herself further. Didn’t she remember the reason they were in space? Daisy asked everybody to stand down and take a breath. If this escalated, Daisy didn’t know what would happen. What Simmons would do next. One thing that she was sure of was that her friend was being too reckless and thus endangering their lives. That had to stop.

“Simmons is right. Fitz is the mission.” She began. Then, she looked at Simmons. “But I'm the mission leader, and that was my call to make, not yours.” She tried. She really tried to talk rationally and patiently, but even her patience had a limit; especially when Simmons questioned her loyalty. So, she lined up some of the things they did to find Fitz. The places they went to when they followed every breadcrumb trying to find him, and now they were at the end of a galaxy because Simmons locked on the coordinates against every order and argument. Just because of a tiny word they couldn't even read. Heck, how were they going to save Fitz if they couldn’t even save themselves?

When Simmons scoffed so rudely, Daisy had had enough.

“We're going home. Hopefully we can make it there.”

“Go if you want, but I'm staying.”

“Permission denied. And if you have a problem with that, I'll have you locked up until we get there.”

However, the biochemist continued being rude and spat “I'd like to see you try.”

Daisy saw red. There were just so many things in her mind and heart that just wanted to be let out, right at the tip of her tongue. Nevertheless, she held them in. Whatever she said would just make things worse. Heck, she might be ignored too. She was telling herself that her friend (if Simmons still considered her as one) was grieving and currently at the end of her tether. But what she said and her tone when she said it just brought back Daisy’s earlier memories.

She tried. She really did. Tried to forget the painful days after they returned from the dystopian future. Those days when the team split. When they went against her and did things behind her back. Or how she realized that her life didn’t worth as much as others’. And yet, she was the one being blamed. How this makeshift family of hers was flawed. And how numb she felt while outwardly showing to the world that she was strong and could endure anything the world threw at her.

~~~~####~~~~

Piper couldn’t believe this. How could Simmons say those things? They spent months in space looking for her husband. She could at least be respectful to them, especially Daisy as she had been taking the scientist’s mood and recklessness in her stride despite everything that happened back on earth. Piper remembered the day she witnessed the team argued at the Lighthouse and the mini cracks on Daisy’s expression when she heard that they didn’t pick her and that her life was expendable. How her heart must have been broken that day. Piper sometimes thought it must have reminded her of her time in foster care; an unwanted kid being shuffled from one place to another.

She almost blurted that Daisy could easily contain all of them on this ship without even breaking a sweat. Heck, she could even turn them all to dust. Did she forget all that? Friends or not, that was cold even for Simmons.

However, before she could say anything, the communication channel buzzed and they were later forced to welcome an inspection by the custom officer of Naro-Atzia. Trying to deflect the request was unsuccessful. So, they let them come onboard.

Their situation got worse when they were ambushed by a hunter who snuck onto their ship. A Chronicom no less. Luckily, Davis managed to save the day. They even got intel on where Fitz might head to – the planet of Kitson. They were lucky that Fitz really was in that sector, but reckless was still reckless. It was not easily dismissed. She did hope that Fitz was there. Or things might get dicey on the Zephyr.

~~~~####~~~~

On the way to Kitson, they interrogated Malachi, the Chronicom hunter they caught. It was fruitless. All they got was that he said that they were out of time. What could that possibly mean? Was Fitz running out of time? Would they be able to get him back to where he belongs? Jemma Simmons was worried. Heck, she was freaking out.

The hours they spent heading towards Kitson got Jemma to thinking. She realized how awful she acted on this journey. Especially the last few days. She grimaced when she recalled bits and pieces of words she uttered. How impulsive she was and how she endangered their lives. She didn’t remember Daisy being this reckless even when she was adamant in finding a cure for Coulson. And to now know that her determination in finding that cure was what helped them to defeat Talbot.

Jemma was ashamed when she recalled the way she acted after Daisy was appointed as director. She could see now that they never gave the Inhuman a chance to be a director. Not even once. They disobeyed all her commands and look what happened? They needed Daisy to come to their rescue. Yet, still they dismissed her. If they were in military or even in the previous incarnation of S.H.I.E.L.D., they’d be court-martialled or dishonorably discharged for disobedience and dangerous conduct.

Jemma knew and acknowledged that the three of them were the reason Talbot was reborn as Graviton, but they were too stubborn and ashamed to admit that. So, they lashed out on Daisy. Yo-Yo even yelled that they didn’t pick her and that she should have just stayed in the future. Jemma saw the cracks, the moment Daisy closed up and sort of distancing herself emotionally as she became more resolute in finding the cure for Coulson, the one she identified as a father figure. The more she thought about it, the more she could see that there was still this gap between them to this day, and the more remorseful she felt. Groaning, she knew that she had to apologize to the team and mend their relationship especially with Daisy.

~~~~####~~~~

Once they reached the planet of Kitson, they searched for the Lazy Comet – the spaceship Fitz was in. They tried to contact the ship but their calls went unanswered. So, they did what they were best at – forcing their way in.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Who the hell are you?”

“I'm the Controller of this ship, and you're trespassing.”

The other guy was trying to aim his gun at them but Daisy was quicker. She sent a shockwave at the man and knocked the gun out of his hand. In the meantime, Simmons was asking about Fitz. The guy with the thick moustache should have just answered. Davis didn’t get it. Why must he try to gain something in return for answers? Didn’t they see the door was blown before they entered the ship? Daisy must have not had enough patience today as she broke two of the guy’s fingers. Well, he shouldn’t feel indifferent to someone’s pain but that was so badass. He guessed that this incident would add to her fame then.

In pain, the moustached man told them that Fitz and Enoch (well, he was glad that Fitz was not alone) were outlaws. That they were lucky they didn’t report the two of them and collected the bounty because they were nice people. Yeah right. Nice people would not kick out those in need. However, being outlaws was not good. Nope. Especially if you were a terran. Well, unless you were Quake. Then, that was not a bad thing. People were scared of her; more like despised her because she was such a menace. She built that reputation only after a few months in space. Yup. Davis was right. His boss was such a badass.

Talking about not good, Davis’ stomach didn’t feel so good too. It rumbled for food. He was so hungry. Argh! Why didn’t he eat something before they came here? The second time his stomach rumbled, he saw a bottle of candies in the other man’s hand. His mind was full of ‘ _Is that food?_ ’ Hunger could surely lead people towards questionable thoughts or deeds. So, when the man asked, “Do you guys need anything else?” Of course, Davis said “Those,” pointing at the bottle of candies and promptly snatched it and devoured them, groaning satisfyingly at their taste. He even shared them with Daisy and Simmons.

“Where did our friends go?”

“On this planet, it could be one of two places – the casino or the brothels, depending on how well they did at the casino.”

So, they decided that Davis returned to the Zephyr while Daisy and Simmons went to the casino. He thought that it was a great idea because he felt a bit weird now. Maybe he needed some rest. Or maybe he did not.

~~~~####~~~~

“Welcome to the House of Games.” They were greeted at the entrance of the casino.

“Please check your weapons and moral high ground. Robots, droids, mechs, cyborgs, and synths are strictly prohibited. Violators will be removed and executed.” This was when they felt a bit woozy as they heard the greeter’s voice slightly distorted before it returned to normal.

They checked their weapons and discussed the strange sensation they were feeling. Simmons suggested that it must have been the atmosphere. Daisy on the other hand believed that she was high. However, Simmons was confident that it was only temporary and their body would adjust soon. Well, she was right. Their body did adjust but to the hallucinogenic effect they were currently experienced. What could have possibly caused that?

“I'm just gonna say it. I don't think it's the atmosphere.”

No. That was silly. They determined that it was the things, the little puffies that they ate earlier.

“Bad little puffies.” They laughed and commented that Davis ate six of them. He must have had it worse than them.

They made it to the bar in the casino, sort of crawling and shuffling their way there.

“Why are we here?”

“Because we're on a mission.”

“What is the mission?”

“The mission is Ladies' Night!”

Simmons and Daisy talked about the first time they met among other things. They were so high that Daisy didn’t even realize that Simmons had moved and in her seat, sat an alien that looked like he hadn’t bathe in weeks, who dared to proposition her. Eww, that was so gross. So, she stood and went looking for her friend. Daisy was still feeling weird and she thought everyone around her smelled like cheese. Panic was starting to take hold when she finally found Simmons, under a game table.

Under the table, Simmons apologized for dragging her across the universe and being such a bitch. She talked about how much she missed Fitz. And they talked some more until they heard a high-pitched tone that sounded almost like a dolphin. Apparently, only humans can hear it. Even intoxicated, both agents were sort of alert when they related that sound to Fitz.

When they got out from under the table, Daisy saw a group of people that screamed trouble.

“Do those guys look like the guy that we have tied up on the Zephyr?”

“I see them, too, which means they're very real, and they're here for Fitz.”

“They'll have to get by me first.” She followed that statement by sending a shockwave that was way off. That sent the other patrons to run to safety. She told Simmons to go look for Fitz while she dealt with those guys.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. If I can't quake it, I'll break it.”

Assuring that she’d be fine, Simmons ran from the scene to find Fitz somewhere in the establishment.

Thus, a fisticuff between an inebriated Daisy and troubles ensued in the casino. It had been a while since the last time she had fun at the expense of others’ wellbeing. Clearly, the boys had nothing on her. Daisy easily incapacitated them.

Meanwhile, Simmons was talking nonsense with a big man whom she assumed was a guard when the door behind him was blown and out walked Fitz. She was finally standing right before her husband who was very surprised to see her. At long last, after months of searching, they were reunited. However, the universe was such a jerk for making their reunion lasted only a few seconds before Fitz was spirited away by the hunter they caught earlier. ‘Are you kidding me?’ She couldn’t believe this.

“That bloody Malachi! Come back here you sod!”

Dejected, they returned to the Zephyr and slept the drugs off. They were not out of hope. They had Enoch. He would be a great help in finding Fitz.

~~~~####~~~~

On board the Zephyr, Enoch was bemoaning his fate and his missing friend, which gave the others a headache. Piper and Davis as usual bickered like a pair of kids. Funny that they were not related at all. Daisy decided to redirect the team to the problem at hand.

“Okay, Enoch, we made a lot of noise on Kitson, and we only have enough fuel for one more jump left. So, we can't hang around up here.”

They needed to plot a course. They also asked the Chronicom about that bounty hunter, and why would he take Fitz. They also told Enoch that his action in the future helped the human race to survive its extinction-level event to stop his litany of self-pity. That helped him to focus on the problem. However, he was still puzzled. If he had completed his mission, why were Chronicom hunters after him?

The others confided that they thought those guys were from the Confederacy. He would prefer that. The hunters were the most feared of the Chronicoms. They were relentless. He knew that they would never release Fitz. But the humans were determined. That was what made him admire them. They did not quit easily.

Their discussion came to an abrupt stop when all of a sudden their engine whirred and slowed down. Their navigation systems and thrusters were also down. They had to get the Zephyr back online or they’d be sitting ducks. However, that seemed unlikely. So, they prepared to fight their would be intruder because outside there, a large Confederacy flagship (precisely the one they ran away from since the Pyree) and a few smaller ones already had them surrounded.

“A ship identical to that came after Fitz and me. We barely escaped in the ejection pod.”

The Zephyr was forced to dock on the flagship. They were about to be captured, but they would not go down that easily. They were readied with weapons aimed at the area their intruder would appear. Daisy hid her pet flerken in the closet in her room and strictly gave him the order to stay put. Surprisingly, Chewie did not throw his cat tantrum and docilely followed his favorite human’s instruction.

“As soon as they're inside, open fire.”

“Copy that.”

“Ready.”

“I wonder what they want. If they wanted us dead, they would cut this ship in two.”

Surprisingly, it was not the Confederacy at all. Enoch seemed to know their intruder. Apparently, the female-looking Chronicom, Atarah, was pursuing Enoch for tampering with the universe.

They locked Davis and Piper up. Meanwhile, Daisy and Simmons confronted Atarah. Their confusion regarding the Confederacy ship was answered swiftly. They found out that the Chronicom took over the vessel and the many pursuits they escaped since they left the rusted moons of Pyree were actually not the Confederacy at all.

They also found out that the Chronicoms’ home world had been destroyed by an unknown entity.

“Tell us what happened.”

“In recent years, there were whispers of strange phenomena on distant planets, entire worlds mysteriously destroyed. We never imagined it would happen to ours. It began slowly with minor distortions in the fabric of space that released a plague. There was a great debate, but we failed to act. And then, it was too late. The effects spread rapidly, consuming our planet.”

Yes, it was a tragedy, but the humans did not get what that had to do with them. Enoch on the other hand was able to read his compatriot’s intention. Atarah wanted to know how they were able to travel through time so that the Chronicoms may go back and save their world. Time travel. Huh! It was not that simple. In fact, they didn’t even know how. This lady must not have known that they were actually kidnapped and sent to the future unwillingly.

Atarah did not believe them. She provoked them by showing Fitz who was being locked up in his cell. She even had Fitz hit by his guard – that bloody hunter, Malachi. The cheek of them.

“Stop this! Hurt Fitz one more time, and I will tear this ship apart.” Daisy threatened her.

“I've heard reports of what Quake can do, which is why Leopold Fitz is being held on another ship. If any harm comes to me, those ships will scatter across the galaxy. Behave or you will never find him.”

Enoch was telling her that she had made a grave mistake as Fitz was not their enemy. But it fell on deaf ears. She even ordered Malachi to dispose of Fitz. 

Daisy told them to stop. She told them what enabled them to travel through time. The machine. The monolith. However, everything was in the future and the monoliths were all destroyed. They didn’t even have any idea who built the machine.

Atarah didn’t like that. Since they were of no use to her, she ordered them to be killed. But Enoch tried to reason with her. He proposed that if anyone could solve the mysteries of time travel, then, it would be Fitz. And to motivate him, all they had to do was put Jemma Simmons in danger, and Fitz could solve anything.

“They need Fitz alive, which means they won't kill him.” Simmons whispered to Daisy.

“And I can kick her ass.” And she proceeded doing just as such. Once Atarah was out of commission, they searched for Davis and Piper. They planned to go back to Z1, turned the power on and got the hell out of there. Fitz would be fine for now. The Chronicoms needed him alive.

Unfortunately, their attempt to escape was unsuccessful. So, they planned to fight. However, Simmons surrendered before they began and told Atarah to let the other three agents go. She rationalized that Fitz couldn’t solve time travel without her. So, she would stay, not as a hostage but as his partner. She had only one condition - let the others go unharmed.

Daisy couldn’t believe her ears. “No, no, no. Simmons, don't do this.” she pleaded. “We will find another way.”

“But there isn't one. We're impossibly outnumbered. We're unarmed. Even if we make it to the Zephyr, there's a fleet of ships waiting to blast us into oblivion. This is the end of the road. You followed me across the galaxy. I never would have made it here without you, but I won't keep putting you in danger. Thank you. Now go home.”

“I can't leave you.” Simmons smiled sadly but happy at the same time that Daisy still wanted to save her despite everything. A true friend indeed.

“You have to. Whatever happens, at least I'll be with Fitz. We'll have each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is my most unoriginal piece. Just a rough outlines of what happens to the space team in season 6. Anyway, this chapter is merely a means to further the story I’ve planned.


	2. The Chase

Once they got back to the Zephyr, they left the Chronicom’s fleet in haste. Going as fast as they could, they prayed that the Chronicoms did honor their words – that they would be let go unharmed. While Davis expertly piloted the ship, they checked the overall health of the Z1, hoping that everything was working fine. They also checked for anything that should not be there like a tracker or a stowaway.

Daisy immediately worked on sending a message to their trusted ally. She made sure that it was encrypted as a precaution if it was intercepted. They increased their speed and set the coordinates for their ultimate destination – Earth. Soon, they would have to use the Jump Drive. Although they knew that they would not be reaching their home planet after only a single jump, at least they’d be nearer. However, they could not jump yet. The Zephyr needed to be primed enough in order to do that.

She then went into her quarter and retrieved Chewie who could be heard scratching and yowling loudly from inside her closet. She yelped when she opened the closet and the cat jumped out and frantically ran for the door. Daisy chased after him until they reached the bridge.

“Chewie. Hey, buddy.” The sound of Daisy’s voice stopped him. That was when he probably realized that he was among trusted people. The flerken turned around and mewled when he saw the Inhuman. He jumped into her arms, purring non-stop while nuzzling the Inhuman’s chin affectionately. That scene put a smile on everyone’s face and for a minute there they forgot their problem. 

“Did you miss me?” Immediately after she uttered that question, the flerken stopped nuzzling her chin; his feline eyes narrowed and looked right into hers. That kind of unnerved her. He no longer purred ecstatically. Instead, he growled and hissed before pushing her away as if he was actually angry at being left behind in the closet. Daisy let him go lest she got swiped with the cat’s claws or worst, being swallowed. Remembering Ford’s words regarding this alien species, Daisy didn’t want to test whether the older Inhuman was telling the truth or not. He went to the corner of the room, hissing and staring at her defiantly.

Piper and Davis were snickering openly at the look of bafflement on Daisy’s face. Plus, Chewie’s indignant behavior and the way his body warred with his instinct to go to Daisy was enough to lighten to gloomy feeling among them, if only for a while.

“I think he’s angry at you.” Piper reasoned. “Or maybe he’s just sulking.”

“Where was he all this time?” Davis asked as he checked the scanner.

“I hid him in my closet.”

“Well, no wonder he’s angry and definitely sulking too. He was stuck in there for hours.”

“Did you at least leave him with some food and his litter box in there?”

Daisy grimaced before smiling sheepishly.

“I guess you didn’t then.”

“It was an emergency. I didn’t even think about that. We didn’t have a long time before the Chronicoms boarded the Zephyr. Besides, from what Ford told me, Chewie could get himself out of that closet pretty easily.”

Daisy sighed and sat down on one of the seats at the bridge. Why in the vast universe did she decide it was a good idea to have a moody pet? A dangerous one too! She called him again and implored him to come over to her. After a few minutes, he calmed down and strutted to where she was sitting. He then nuzzled Daisy’s feet, asking for cuddles and food. For all the dangers his species could pose, Chewie acted more like a housecat than a deadly alien. Well, she guessed that all was good for the flerken now. Anyway, she’d better feed him now. After she gave him a cuddle, of course. You’d never know what might happen if he didn’t get what he wanted.

“You’re such a spoiled cat.” She sighed before picking him up and walked towards the galley.

She could hear Piper chuckled behind her. She was sure she heard her said “you’re so whipped.”

~~~~####~~~~

The Zephyr was soon primed enough to jump, but they only have one jump cell left. So, they needed to make sure that the coordinate they were setting was toward earth. They couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. Their lives and the fate of Fitz and Simmons were on the line.

Soon after, everything on the vessel was secured and the coordinate was set. Chewie, Piper and Davis were already strapped in their seats, eyes alert for any dangers while Daisy was readying the jump drive. Right as she was about to walk toward the last jump cell, the alarm sounded throughout the Zephyr. The alert from the scanner told them that they had a tail on such a close proximity.

“That dratted Chronicom!”

“She sent her minions to cross us off!”

“Or to take us hostage again.”

“Why would they take us hostage? We are of no use to them.”

“Probably to ‘ _motivate_ ’ Fitz and Simmons.”

“Damn it!”

Everything happened very quickly. Daisy didn’t get the chance to grab the cell and activate the jump drive because she was flung to the other side of the machine when Davis suddenly manoeuvred the Zephyr sharply to evade a laser shot coming from one of their unwanted guests. The continuous frenzied movements of the vessel did not allow Daisy to be upright on her feet, let alone moved around freely. In fact, she had to crawl in order to get to the jump cell as well as bracing for impact on her person against any stationary objects or walls nearby.

The earthlings were trapped at the mercy of two enemy’s vessels. The enemy was winning. The moment that sealed their fate came soon after when two more arrived and all of their pursuers aimed turrets of lasers their way. The combined attack was impossible to avoid. This was it. They were going to die. Piper and Davis were shouting at Daisy to just activate the Jump Drive.

“Easy for you to say. I can’t even move properly with the Zephyr moving crazily!” she yelled back.

As they were frantically trying to save themselves, strongly not allowing the feeling of doom engulfing them; Daisy managed to grab the jump cell and activated the drive. A wormhole appeared on their path and they pushed through it. They jumped, all the while praying that they left their pursuers behind.

They didn’t even get the time to take a deep breath let alone relaxing their guard after they came out of the wormhole, when the scanner detected three spaceships behind them. As luck would have it, three of the enemy’s ships managed to hitchhike on their getaway route and the Zephyr was back under pursuit. Davis pushed the thruster to its maximum capacity and they zapped through space trying to escape their executioners.

All they could do was run, run and run. Their situation was ghastly. Their team was feared by many and all that opposed them, but nobody ever got to one-up them. The Chronicoms was the first adversary they couldn’t beat. In fact, they were about to be eliminated. They were in dire need of a miraculous solution. Where was a miracle when you needed it? It didn’t look like they would get it any time soon or at all. Things became worse when another alarm blared on the Z1 during the high speed chase.

“Now what!? What was that warning for?”

“Shit. We’re losing fuel. They must have hit our fuel line or the tank.”

The Zephyr couldn’t really outrun them. It was already pretty banged up from all those attacks and pursuits for the past few months. Not to mention that they were leaking fuel.

“Daisy, try to use your power!”

“How?” I can’t even go outside there. There are lasers everywhere!”

“Can’t you do it from inside here?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never done it without direct access.”

“Well, let’s find out now. Turn them to dust.”

“What if I damage the Zephyr? Or worst, turn it to ashes? We’d be dead.”

“It doesn’t matter. Either way, we’d still die.”

“You’re right. The least I could do is try.” Davis and Piper looked at her encouragingly. Even the flerken meowed his version of encouragement.

Daisy concentrated in finding the vibrating frequency of the materials that was used to make the Chronicom’s ships, but it was not easy to lock on her target especially in space where sound did not travel through the vacuum; thus, limiting the reach of her power. But their close proximity enabled her to sense it albeit very faintly. To make matter more difficult, she kept getting interference from the Zephyr’s own vibration, which was way stronger than her targets. With Davis and Piper shouting for her to hurry up, she found it even harder to concentrate.

“Would you two please shut up!? I’m trying to concentrate here.”

That shut both agents up. She tried again and was able to pinpoint her target faster. That was both good and bad. It meant that the enemy was very near to them. Once she got it, she unleashed her power lest she lost the frequency again. They didn’t have the time for another try. One vessel did go down. Decimated to nothing. That seemed to stun the other two pilots.

Seconds later another alarm went off on the Z1. All three of them swore.

“Oh no. I think I fried or dusted something.”

The Zephyr was already in a bad condition and the alarm was reverberating in the spaceship. The damage reached a critical level. Their speed dropped at an alarming rate. Not to mention they were losing fuel. The shield was also down. Their cloaking mechanism had already failed before they jumped. There was no way they could save themselves now. When they saw the Chronicoms aimed their biggest cannons at the Zephyr, charging them to their maximum capacity, they knew that it was the end of the road for them.

Then, their engine died abruptly and they were drifting in space. They accepted the fact that they would die. The two enemy vessels were priming to hit them with laser cannons. They were bracing for it. But the shot didn’t come. In fact, they saw the two scouting vessels seemingly entering a wormhole and came out of two different ones facing each other; colliding head on and they burst into a fiery ball.

The Z1 was knocked with the wave of explosion as they were extremely near the collision point. While drifting away, the crew on Zephyr One cheered as they realized that they were now safe from the Chronicoms. Then, they witnessed laser shots hit the spot where the collision occurred, leaving no traces of their pursuers.

The trio was immediately on alert. Someone else was there. A third party had just entered the battle. One that was strong enough to blast their enemy to space dust. A friendly? Or a new enemy? They couldn’t face another foe. The Zephyr was in no condition to move let alone involve in another battle in the middle of an unknown territory.

“Hey there, Zephyr One. Hope we arrive right on time.” The sound of a familiar voice through the communication channel brought hope to the team.

“Lexus.”

Their Inhuman allies had come to save the day. Apparently, they were near that area and heading towards the Z1’s last location once they got the message Daisy sent right after they left the Chronicom’s fleet. The spaceship they stole from an annoying mutual enemy of theirs did not have the ability to jump. However, it was very fast and large enough to house the Zephyr One.

The Inhumans chased after the drifting Z1 and managed to snag them. Connecting the cables to the Zephyr, they were pulled in and the Z1 was later docked in the docking bay of the larger vessel. Once, the pressurized chamber was closed and everything was secured, the team on the Z1 exhaled a long stuttering breath of relief.

~~~~####~~~~

_Back on the flagship the Chronicoms stole from the Confederacy._

“Their minds are at war with themselves. They're in the red.” Fitz and Simmons were put under a machine and their vitals didn’t do so good. Enoch was concerned. However, Atarah and the other Chronicoms did not seem to care about that.

“They could end up brain-dead, and you get nothing. Pull them out, Atarah.”

He tried to turn off the machine but was stopped when weapons were trained on him. He insisted that turning it off and making sure the humans were alive was the right thing to do.

“Do not do anything reckless. You have a choice, Enoch. Work in harmony with your fellow Chronicoms or be dismantled.” That meant death for a Chronicom. The thought to just do what he wanted to do, consequences be damned, crossed his mind. But, he had to save these two people first. Fitz was his first friend. His best friend. He couldn’t just leave him and his mate to the mercy of his aggressive compatriots.

When they were finally pulled out of the memory machine, they looked to be none the worse. However, it was a different thing to say about their mental health. So many things happened in their minds that they knew a lot more about each other even after all these years. Nevertheless, that didn’t mean that they did not experience mental trauma. On the other hand, all the pent-up and repressed emotions made them understood more about the persons that they were. It deepened their love and devotions towards one another.

“The whole universe couldn't keep me from you, Jemma Simmons. I am the luckiest man on any planet.”

Fitz and Simmons had just had a heart-to-heart conversation after they realised that they were put into a memory machine. They decided not to do what the Chronicoms wanted them to do – building a machine to travel the time. No way. Besides, how on earth would they build that? And they had had enough of time travelling. Their one and only jaunt through time (for Simmons anyway) was pretty brutal. So, they told their captors just that.

“I'm sorry about what happened to your planet, and I really want to help Enoch, but time travel is a nasty business.”

“And I know that I don’t want to be in any part of it.”

“So, if we have to spend the rest of our days in this prison together, then so be it.”

They may be anywhere in the universe, but as long as they were together, they’d be okay.


	3. Midpoint

“There’s a message from Zephyr One.”

“Oh, what does it say?”

“Did they find Fitz?”

Ford read the message to the younger Inhumans. It seemed that Daisy and her team found the one they were searching for. At Kitson of all place. And then they lost him again. Currently, they were following a clue to where he was held captive. The trio hoped that their friends were successful.

“So, what should we do now? Where do we go?” Lexus asked, trying to determine their flight plan.

“I think we should head their way, just in case. In that message, Daisy said that Fitz was teleported away by the hunter whom they caught before, right in front of Simmons. They might be facing a new enemy. Probably more powerful than any of their previous ones. The Z1 might need our help.”

So, the trio set their course to the last location the Zephyr was known to land. They were going to Kitson or somewhere near the planet. Less than a day later, they received another message from Zephyr One. This time, it was encrypted. But the Inhumans had no problem deciphering it as Daisy used the same one they used in their journey before. What they got was very alarming. They upped their speed and headed towards the last coordinate the Zephyr was at. This was the time they regretted not installing a jump drive on their stolen vessel. However, they just had to make do with the speed it could travel at.

“The Z1 is detected nearby. They probably jumped.”

“Are they safe now?”

“I don’t think so. Not yet. In fact, they’re in more dangers now. The scanner just detected another three vessels not far behind the Zephyr.”

The Inhuman flew faster toward the Zephyr and to their horror, saw the damage to their friends’ vessel. They cheered joyfully when one of the ships was decimated to nothing. That must have been Daisy’s power. But when they saw the remaining two spaceships were getting ready with their deadly cannons, the trio was now near enough and they only had seconds to intercept, and not enough time to ready their weaponry.

So, Lexus immediately opened a portal in the path of the enemy’s vessels where they entered and came out from two different ones he created, facing each other. The ships collided and exploded. Then, they fired a couple of laser shots at the middle of the collision, obliterating everything into space dust. Satisfied that there was no more danger, they relaxed their guard and began to reach for the drifting Zephyr One.

~~~~####~~~~

Magda was at the docking bay waiting for the crew of Z1 to disembark from the vessel. When the ramp was down, a blur of a hissing furball ran past her. It was followed by Daisy, Piper and Davis who looked pretty worn out. They greeted each other and she witnessed Daisy chasing after and later comforting the ruffled flerken. He must have been pretty traumatised with what happened.

Gathering at the lounge, they caught up with each other, inhaled their meal (they were absolutely famished) and discussed their situations. They also shared what they’d gone through, the repairs that needed to be done on the Zephyr and their next plan of action. They were going to stay on the larger vessel for the time being. Determined to leave for earth as soon as they could, they decided to tackle the damage to the Zephyr in the quickest time possible, permitting that they had the tools and supplies. However, they all agreed that they would do that after they got enough rest.

~~~~####~~~~

“I believe the repair is coming up nicely. At least the fuel line is fixed.”

“Yeah, but there are still a lot more to be done. It’s pretty banged up. And we need to refuel. There are only a few litres left. Is there anywhere we can do that?”

“Not anytime soon though. We’re hundreds of light years away from any systems. I guess you guys just have to stick around for a bit longer then.”

“I just hope that Fitz and Simmons are okay and that Enoch could help them somehow.”

“You said the Chronicoms need them to build a time machine, I think they’ll be safe for now.”

“They’d better be.”

Daisy and Magda continued repairing the Zephyr and caught up with each other’s latest adventures; all the while waiting for any signs of a nearby location where they can restock their supplies.

It was a few days later when the scanner detected a floating entity, probably a space station in their path. Since they were in need of help and supply, they did the polite thing and requested to be allowed to dock. Contacting the place was not easy. It took them a few tries. Right before they decided to secretly dock, the two-way communication channel was established and they were allowed to dock.

They were welcomed by a female officer who barely looked a bit older than a teenager named Annie - at least that was how her name sounded to their ears. The good officer personally assisted them since the moment they arrived. The people there were very friendly. They immediately attended to their requests – fuel, tools, and supply. Their mechanics worked swiftly in repairing the Zephyr. In the meantime, they were led to a row of chambers where they could stay until they were ready to leave.

Later that night, after dinner, Annie gave them a tour of the starship – the wing half of where they were staying at. It was apparent to the team that everything on the vessel was far superior to theirs. So, of course they would want to learn more. They were sure that it would be beneficial later. At one point in the middle of the tour, something weird happened to their guide. They saw her glowed for a while before turning translucent and back to normal again. It happened very fast that they thought their eyes played tricks on them. They assumed that it could be the lighting.

On the next day, they went on a tour at the other wing of the vessel, led by Bella – Annie’s sister. At precisely the same time as the day before, they witnessed all local inhabitants of the ship around them glowed for a while before turning transparent and back to normal again. It must have been due to the lighting. However, no such thing happened to them.

When the team discussed this phenomenon among themselves, they guessed it must have been a species thing. It was best for them not to speculate. Rule of thumb: if something didn’t make sense now, didn’t mean it would always be because everything that happened had an explanation behind it. They just hadn’t find out what it was yet.

After dinner, probably due to boredom or maybe because they never got to see other people, their guides were relaxed enough to talk about their origin and how they began their journey.

“We were running away, escaping the annihilation of our world. Being pursued by our enemy for years. Many a times, we thought we were done for. They got too close. The last time we faced them, we knew that there was no way we could win. So, we teleported as far as we could.”

“And you teleported here?”

“No. We appeared right at the edge of a forbidden zone in space. With the speed we were travelling at, we failed to halt and turn around. That zone sucked us inside, trapping us for a long time. No one wanted to be near that area. We never saw our pursuer again but inside there, we faced fiercer and more ruthless foes. Let’s just say that we're not proud of the things we did for survival.”

Annie and Bella were not sure how long they were trapped in the forbidden zone. Time moved differently in different parts of the universe. However, they believed it was very long as evidenced by their physical changes. When they first started the journey, no one had white hair and everybody was still very young. The sisters were just little children. By the time they escaped from that zone, they were already adults; and their kind lived a very long lifespan.

“What happened once you were out?”

“For some time, we were drifting in space, trying to look for a new world to settle in. I guess there was nothing, no celestial bodies near the forbidden zone.”

“Anything nearby could have probably been sucked into the zone.”

“Perhaps. Besides, it's best to be far away from it.”

For two days they believed in the ‘species thing’ theory, until they found out the real thing on the third day. They were on the Zephyr, finalizing its maintenance with Annie and Bella. At precisely the same time as the previous days, they saw both sisters glowed, turned and back to normal. This time the team was prepared. They recorded it and later asked the girls.

At first they denied it, saying that it was probably the lighting, but the footage they recorded did not lie. After much deflection, the sisters resigned that they could not withhold the secret from them any longer. Besides, they liked the team and they also hoped that Daisy and her team could help them solved the puzzle.

“So, how did this happen?” Daisy asked them, referring to the strange condition of the vessel’s inhabitants.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. We don’t know what happened. One day I was working on my jet, next thing I realized, my body started glowing and becoming transparent before it returned to normal.”

“So, all this while, you don’t know what happened to you? How about the others? Do they know?”

“I thought I was the only one until I saw Bella changed when we were talking. We knew right away that something was not right. So, we observed the others and it turned out that the same thing happened to everyone else.”

“One thing we were sure of is that it happens at a certain time. The same time every day. And nobody else seems to realize it,” Bella added.

“Is it a species thing?”

Bella told them that her species didn’t have that ability. In fact, she believed that everyone on board was already dead. There were no heartbeats, no blood flow, no hunger and they didn’t age. It was a ghost ship. So did its inhabitants. But the facility and everything on it was real. Even the fuel, the weapons, the food and the merchandise. 

“How long has it been since this happened?”

“If you count the day based on the number of times we turn ghostlike, today is day number 1001.”

“And you never stopped anywhere since you left the zone?”

When the sisters nodded, the visitors were alarmed. Not only they were on a spaceship full of ghosts; but if the vessel was always on the move, it meant that they never refuelled and had not stocked up their supply, including food. They were worried that they ate rotten food despite its delicious tastes though they did not feel sick. They were assured immediately by the sisters that the food was safe as they had the means to keep food supply fresh for a long time.

Annie later explained what they did to find the reason why this happened and if anyone else realized it too. No one did at first. Until one day at the precise moment Annie told them to check it for themselves that she and her sister were not crazy, the others realized that the girls were telling the truth. Something had happened to the inhabitants of the spaceship. They didn’t realize that they were no longer alive.

The people on that ship didn’t know how they died and why they were still there. Shouldn’t they transcend or go somewhere in afterlife? But the few people, who eventually did realize, pretended that everything was normal, most probably because they had no idea how they came to be like that. The majority of them were in denial of their status because in their belief, a soul would travel to the next world after death. But they were still here.

Something must have gone wrong to make them all stuck in that state for many years. Something was tethering them to this world still. The team deduced that it was most probably because they did not know why or how they died that left them in limbo, a midpoint between life and death, which prevent them from passing on. The visitors also theorized that perhaps it was because the people had yet to fulfill their mission which was to find a new settlement. They were not that big on anything supernatural but they were also not that narrow-minded to dismiss something that facts and science could not prove. Who knew? It could be a science that they had yet to understand. The team promised to help find out.

~~~~####~~~~

The sisters and a few others continued to help them fixed the Zephyr. The team built a good rapport with them. Once the ship was finally in top health, the team was ready to tackle the task of investigating the bizarre occurrence on the massive vessel. So, they called Annie and Bella to show them the video surveillance.

They found Annie pretty easily, but they needed Bella, who had access to the control room. They found her in the Zephyr chasing after Chewie who showed off his agility that resulted in Bella to skid and slammed into the cabinet near the jump drive machine. That caused the items inside to pour out onto her. She was mortified when she heard laughter not far from her spot. Relieved that Daisy and Magda were laughing at her expense and not mad at her for making a mess on the Zephyr, she joined in.

After saying that Bella was needed at the control room and that they were going to start the investigation, Daisy picked Chewie up and left, citing it was meal time. That left Bella alone with Magda. They cleaned up the mess and put everything back in place.

“Where do I put these?” Bella asked as she did not see anything like the objects in her hands anywhere in the cabinet.

Magda took a double take at the objects. She examined them, feeling excited and incredulous at the same time. She immediately contacted Daisy and showed her the items.

“Where did you find them?”

“Among the mess in the cabinet. Are these…?”

“Yeah.” Daisy’s eyes gleamed with unbridled joy. “The new prototype. But we never got the time to test them. I cannot believe I've totally forgotten about them.”

“Thing’s getting easier now. I guess Lady Luck might be on our side today.”

“I hope she stays forever. With everything that's going on, we gotta have some luck sometimes.”

~~~~####~~~~

They investigated the reason those people died. They checked the security footage and got no answers. It was a tedious job and they watched through hundreds of recordings. Then, Ford suggested checking the outside cameras.They didn’t find anything that could shed some lights to the cause of their deaths. Not until the team reviewed the recordings from the row of cameras on top of the spaceship when they got an answer. Not obviously but enough to give them a starting point to further their investigation.

All they saw was a flash of light at quite a distance away that glowed a bit brighter once it passed by the ship. So, they checked the reading from the vessel’s scanner at that precise moment. Apparently, the light was a star passing by less than 100 meter above them. Then, Daisy played a few feeds recorded within the same timeframe from different cameras inside and outside the spaceship simultaneously.

They found out that the inhabitants of the vessel froze and then turned translucent or ghostlike and back to looking normal again in a blink of an eye right at the very moment the star passed by above them. The time stamped on the video matched the time the inhabitants of the ship turned ghostlike every day since.

It was not something they expected. It was impossible. It defied the rule of logic. The people onboard were all accidentally killed by a star that passed by. It seemed as though it sucked all the energy of all living beings on the station. Just them. The event didn’t even affect the vessel or anything else on it.

“How is that even possible?” Lexus asked in disbelief.

“Is that some sort of weapon? Did your enemy catch up to you and release that?” Ford inquired softly.

“That’s not a weapon.” Bella mumbled distractedly. She was deep in thought and soft murmuring could be heard from her that was mostly gibberish to the team.

“A living star…”

“A what?”

“A living star.” She answered more convincingly, turning to look at her sister. They seemed to be communicating silently.

“How the heck could a star kill you when it was just passing by? It did not even touch the ship.” The team was feeling incredulous.

“Besides, what do you mean by that? The star is alive? I’ve never heard of any stars that feed on souls.”

Annie looked at them, eyes sharp and gleaming with awe. “Folklore and ancient legends mentioned that there was once a powerful being who died and adopted the form of a star.”

“How ancient are we talking about?”

“Very.”

“What do you mean _adopted_?”

“Powerful cosmic beings do not simply perish. They have the means to return to life as long as there is a trace of them left in this world even if it is the size of an atom.” Bella explained.

“A cosmic being…You mean that star was a cosmic being?”

“That sounds absurd.”

“It does sound ridiculous but with regard to cosmic beings, anything is possible.” Bella said. She was still in awe with it.

“But that still doesn’t tell us how this star killed you guys.”

Annie explained to them its nature based on what the legend told. “This living star sustains life by taking the life sources of and on anything it happens by. When it was a whole being, it ate planets and destroyed worlds.”

“I guess the legend was true after all.”

~~~~####~~~~

The team stayed true to their words and they did manage to solve the mystery of the spaceship. A possible cosmic being in the form of a star sucked the life out of the people there and left them stranded in limbo. It might probably due to the unknown reason of their death that they were trapped in between two worlds; not realizing that they were no longer alive but lost souls left wandering the space.

Now that everything was revealed, the ghosts thanked them. The revelation gave them a sense of completion and the inhabitants of the vessel slowly disappeared one by one. They could now pass on to wherever souls went to after death. The team didn’t want to delve into that topic. It was the last thing they’d want to talk about. They had enough close calls as it was!

The last one to pass on was Annie and Bella. And they left everything to the team under one condition – use it well, much to the team’s confusion. In the end, the only ones left behind were the visitors and a few androids that would maintain the spaceship.

The six of them stayed for a few more days, confident that Fitz and Simmons would be safe so as not to hurry to their rescue. Besides, they already got a signal to their location – vaguely, but it was there. They still had some things they needed to do there before they could leave with both teams on separate missions. Furthermore, the Zephyr and the Inhuman’s ship had to be fully repaired and restocked before they can head out.

A week passed by and both their vessels were repaired, passed maintenance checks, restocked and refuelled. They were ready to head out.

“I guess this is it then. You’re halfway towards Earth. We’ll follow Simmons’ trail.”

“You got the signal?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

They parted ways. The inhuman would go track Fitz and Simmons. The team on the Z1 would go back to Earth and it looked like they could go back sooner than they thought as they recently found two new prototype jump cells Daisy tinkered with when they first started this journey - thanks to Bella. Then, they would regroup and return to space.

~~~~####~~~~

_Back on the Chronicoms’ Flagship._

“How long do you think they’d hold us hostage?”

“Probably until we agree to their demand.”

“Or they would just kill us when they get tired of us refusing them.”

“Maybe.”

“You think Daisy and the others made it back home?”

“I hope so. And I hope they’re okay.” Jemma sighed as Fitz wrapped his arm around her when she put her head on his shoulder. She did hope they made it home safely. She fiddled with her belt buckle and pushed the button hidden there. She was hoping that the tracker was still working and Daisy was working on a plan to save them. However, in the meantime, they just had to stay put and persevered.

~~~~####~~~~

“I do hope that the Z1 would reach Earth in no trouble.”

“Let’s hope that is exactly what happens.”

“They should be. The ship is repaired. They have enough fuel and a couple of jump cells. I’m sure the new prototype works better. Besides, they also restocked their ammo.”

“Unless they encounter an unfriendly.”

“Uh…now that you said it…that is a likely situation.”

They were looking at each other. Both were pondering the likelihood of those circumstances. The Z1 did have a number of enemies. If their state of affairs was known by any of those people, their friends might be in more trouble than they could handle at the moment.

Ford and Magda continued talking about the current situation and their mission. They were headed toward the coordinates they retrieved from the trackers on Simmons and Enoch. A few minutes later, Lexus entered the bridge.

“Guys, any idea what this is?”

“What’s that?”

“I found it in the docking chamber. The one the Z1 was in.” He handed it to Magda who examined it with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“Is that supposed to be on the Zephyr?”

“Uh oh…Oh boy.”

And the three Inhumans sent a quick prayer to whatever deity out there for the safety of the Zephyr One and her crew.


	4. The Starship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Z1 and their Inhuman allies had solved the mystery on the ghost starship. They left for their destinations only to be redirected to the same vessel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven’t updated this story for quite some time. I rewrote this chapter a couple times after the original one went down into the river along with the flash drive I stored it in. The peril of skulking near a river during lockdown. LOL. Took me months to rewrite the remaining chapters. Not really happy with how it turned out – a bit different from what I wrote the first time around. Anyways, here goes...chapter 4

Daisy, Piper and Davis said goodbye to their allies – Lexus, Magda and Ford. Soon after that, the Inhumans left towards Simmons’ location. They were lucky that the tracker on the biochemist’s belt buckle still worked. Although they were stocked up pretty good, the crew of the Zephyr One would stay on their original course – home. They needed more jump cells, weapons and manpower.

After making sure that everything on the ghost ship worked as programmed, the three agents got ready to head out. That was if they could find the captain’s pet flerken. Piper and Davis chased after him all over the place while Daisy made her final check on the starship’s system.

They found him in the ship’s massive food storage. How did he manage to enter the room, Piper and Davis had no idea. The door was always closed and locked. No matter what they did, it did not want to leave the room. The agents even baited him with toys and food, but he wouldn’t budge. Petting him while he was in that mood was just asking for trouble. They even used Daisy’s name to cajole him, which prompted the flerken to move towards them. However, when he didn’t see Daisy, he stopped and went to hide deeper into the room. Therefore, they had to call upon the Inhuman. After all, the cat was her pet.

Daisy sighed as she reached the storage room. Sometimes she wondered why she had such a temperamental pet. She was just about to call his name when a blur of fluffball jumped onto her. By instinct she grabbed at it, knowing fully well that it was Chewie. The cat nuzzled her neck affectionately. She let him do that for a while until she felt the cat draped limply on her shoulder.

“You hungry buddy?” Chewie nudged her cheek. Daisy kissed the top of his head and rubbed under his jaw softly. She was rewarded with contented purring from the cat. “Okay then, let’s get you some food.”

Daisy cradled him close to her chest, and was ready to leave. Just as she reached the door, her eyes fell on something that caught her interest. A gleaming rock. She walked towards it to take a closer look. It emitted an interesting vibe that called to Daisy’s curiosity.

She tapped on the tablet she procured from the ghostly duo before they departed the physical world. It contained all sorts of information they had about the vessel as well as the anecdotes of their expedition since they left their world behind. She captured the image of the rock and waited the 5 seconds the device took to complete the search.

“So, this is what kept everything in this room fresh.” She muttered to herself.

A few days ago, when they asked the ghosts about the safety of the food they ate, the girls told them not to worry as everything was still fresh and safe for consumption. Apparently, this rock was the secret ingredient. It kept everything in the room at their freshest conditions for a long time, delaying their expiration dates.

She continued sifting through the information on the rocks; and discovered that there were a few different types of rocks in multiple colors that served different purposes. Intrigued, she searched the room for them. She found them strategically placed around the room.

The data stated that there were boxes of them in the storage room nearby. So, she went looking for them. The storage room was dedicated solely to those rocks. Stacks of boxes on shelves took up most of its space. Daisy took a few samples of each rock with her. They would be very useful to have especially on long voyages. The ship and everything on it after all was hers to do as pleased. And on that note, she and Chewie returned to the Zephyr to begin their journey home.

~~~~####~~~~

The Zephyr was almost primed enough to jump. Daisy went to lock in the coordinates for Earth and loaded up the jump machine with the new prototype jump cell. They braced themselves for the jolt they’d feel when going through the wormhole, but nothing happened. No wormhole, no jump. They were still where they started.

Something was wrong. Daisy was certain that the jump cell worked just fine. Its specs were better than the previous generation. She and Magda ran some tests on both cells earlier and everything was working perfectly. Taking out the jump cell from its holder, she examined the item. Detecting no defects on the outside, she scanned it on the holotable. She didn’t see anything wrong with it. It was still in tip-top condition.

She had a hollowed feeling in her stomach. If the jump cell was okay, then, it must have been the jumpdrive machine itself. This was something she didn’t want to deal with right now, not with their circumstances. They were in danger of being pursued by their enemies and they couldn’t afford to spend more time in space. They needed to go back to Earth and regroup.

Shoving the worry to the back of her mind, she inspected the machine. It didn’t take her long though to find the answer. A vital component was missing. She found out what it was but couldn’t find the component that was missing even after she took it apart and combed every single surface of the machine. She also had Davis and Piper carefully searched for it. Unfortunately, the component was nowhere to be found and they had no spare part left. They used the last one when they did their maintenance not too long ago.

She contemplated how that happened. When they first repaired the Z1 before they docked on the ghost ship, they only tinkered with the fuel line. The interior of the Zephyr was also a mess. They did spent some time cleaning up. Then, there was that incident where one of their ghost friends was knocked over by Chewie and caused the items from the storage nearby to pour out. They believed that that component must have been accidentally swiped along with things they took out. It could be on either of those occasions.

They didn’t even check the jumpdrive machine properly with the assumption that it worked just fine. What a way to go to teach them to be detailed when doing repairs and maintenance. They couldn’t risk not being able to jump in case they were involved in a high speed chase again.

Now, she had to build one. And the Z1 did not have the materials needed, but she saw them on the starship they just undocked from, a few light years away. Thankfully, she knew enough about the machine she herself retrofitted on the Zephyr with Mack’s and Deke’s help. Sighing resignedly, she told Davis to reset the course.

Not long after that, The Zephyr received a message from their friends telling them they found the missing component on the ship. Since it was vital for the Zephyr to have a safe and working jumpdrive machine, both parties agreed to halt their journey and rendezvous at their previous stop at the earliest time possible.

~~~~####~~~~

When Magda, Lexus and Ford docked on the ghost ship, they were welcomed by Daisy. Or her lookalike. They knew that the Zephyr was still en route to this location. Therefore, this person must not be their friend.

The trio glanced at each other with dread clearly portrayed in their eyes. The only group they knew that could impersonate a person flawlessly (though it was mostly in appearance unless they had studied the person they copied) was the Skrulls.

They were confident that they had at least a Skrull on board while praying that this one was alone. Such wishful thinking. It would be a nightmare to fight a group of them. Fighting a Skrull seemed like a daunting task. You’d never know who the real culprit was. They could pretend to be your friend and you would be none the wiser.

They knew from their interaction with the vessel’s A.I. prior to docking that no one had come for a visit yet. Confrontation was inevitable. The six of them just prepped this starship to be a space station – hopeful that it would benefit them in the long run. And to have someone else usurped their investment hours after they left, was an insult to their hard work.

So, they fought, but it was going nowhere. Until the Zephyr One’s crew returned and found them mid-fight.

“What on earth happened here?”

“Daisy!” They exclaimed.

“I knew that wasn’t you. The ship has been infiltrated! That is a Skrull.” Magda pointed at the enemy they fought with.

“A Skrull? What’s a Skrull?” Davis said.

“How can you not know what a Skrull is?” Lexus said exasperatedly.

“It’s not like I’m in contact with aliens all the time.” Davis retorted indignantly.

“Skrull is a shapeshifting alien race.” Ford supplied.

“Ah, I’ve heard about them. But I can assure you that that one is not a Skrull.” Daisy said nonchalantly. She even looked amused.

“How do you know for sure? You just arrived.” Magda looked at them suspiciously. “Unless…you’re a Skrull too.” She was in combat mode, ready to fight the newcomers.

“Whoa…down girl. I’m not a Skrull. Here. Let me prove it to you.” Daisy displayed her power. “While a Skrull could shapeshift right down to the DNA, they could not replicate Inhuman powers.”

“Then, who is that?” Lexus asked, tilting her head towards the person they just fought.

“Oh, that is my proxy here,” she said sheepishly. “As the proprietor of this place,” she added as an afterthought.

“Why?”

“A space station needs to have a physical boss. How do you expect an A.I to oversee everything here? Who’s going to deal with any unsavory characters if they did something bad here?”

“So, this is where she comes in?”

“Yup.”

~~~~####~~~~

**_A week ago, on the ghost ship_ **

Daisy programmed the androids and the vessels as well as everything on it to be self-managed and better fortified. More bots were built using the specs left in the starship’s archives. It was a big machine, they would need more manpower to run and maintain it. Luckily, they had a room full of machines and components and ingredients where all those mechanical beings were created. She had Lexus to help her with that.

Later, they continued prepping the vessel. Just like she said that she would, Daisy modified the programs of the ship’s A.I to direct the vessel’s day-to-day operations. They would later turn the place into a working space station that would be visited by many voyagers. It would also serve as their secret base around that territory. If it flourished and prospered with booming business opportunities, all the better. They might get to reap what they’d sown. Then, maybe Team Zephyr wouldn’t have to menace the space for supply anymore. Although that might just be wishful thinking. They enjoyed their notoriety a little too much.

Meanwhile, Davis and Ford were trying to find a suitable location to anchor the soon-to-be space station. According to the scanner, there was an asteroid nearby that had been in constant motion for many years and had been detected by the vessel a few times. They were going to attach the ship to it so that less energy was needed to run the place. Once they found it, they wasted no time anchoring the large starship to the asteroid using hooks and cables fortuitously designed for that particular function, which they found while going through the spaceship’s operational and navigation systems.

Piper was helping Magda in checking the overall health of the place as well as all drones and smaller vessels docked in the hangar and compared their findings with the data supplied by its database. They also checked and did some maintenance works on all available machines on board. Then, they refueled both of their vessels.

The days they spent doing maintenance on the soon to be space station were not easy. They encountered language barriers and unknown technology. Luckily, Annie and Bella gave Daisy a gadget that could translate their language as well as giving a huge packet of language lessons some time before they passed on. After Daisy modified the coding on the A.I, they got all the help they needed. After that, everything worked smoothly.

They also did some inventory of the supplies available onboard and estimated the duration before the station ran out of them. With information stored in the ship’s archives and the readings from the scanners as well as their own calculations, they determined the likely places nearby where the station could replenish their resources – and inputted the information to its A.I.’s database.

~~~~####~~~~~

**_Earlier today, approximately 5 minutes after the Inhumans left_ **

Daisy took out something from the Zephyr to the surprise reaction of everyone onboard.

“How the heck did it get here?” Davis and Piper were immediately on alert. Yes, they knew what it was and yes, it was not that long ago when a bunch of that thing went on a murderous rampage to take over their organization and ruining their reputation - Daisy’s especially. Besides, the present Daisy could take care of it real fast, but still, a Daisybot was not to be taken lightly. Both Piper and Davis were sure that all those copies were wiped out when LMD May destroyed the Playground.

“Umm…I brought her along before we left the Lighthouse…” Daisy answered sheepishly.

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, I thought she might be of use on this journey…”

“Right…” Davis was not convinced. “Useful…how exactly?”

“We might need a decoy to stall the enemy or to buy some time to escape.” She paused when the others looked at her suspiciously. “Besides, she has my face and my body. I can’t just leave her unguarded at the Lighthouse. Imagine what would happen if she falls into the wrong hand.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Piper said thoughtfully. Daisy’s reputation on Earth was bordering unflattering at best; an unemotional homicidal lookalike would make it even worse. Though her exploit in Chicago may redeem her in the eyes of the people, there were still some bigots who would condemn her the first chance they got. And if the bad guys got their hands on one of her LMDs for whatever their overarching world domination plans might be, the prospect was not going to be pretty.

“But she’s the ONLY one, right?”

“Eh…”

Seeing that the Inhuman’s throat moved as she gulped, Piper narrowed her eyes at her boss. “There are more.” She deduced. Piper sighed. She remembered seeing the Inhuman acted a bit strangely when they were preparing for the space mission back at the Lighthouse. However, she thought that might be due to the aftermath of everything that happened. Plus, May and Coulson had retired to Tahiti. So, Daisy could be feeling sad and lost.

She should have expected that Daisy was being sneaky. Although secretly stashing some things they didn’t know about on the Zephyr never occurred to her. Now, she was curious to find out what else Daisy brought along without their knowledge.

“Why didn’t you take her out before? There were plenty of occasions where we could have used a decoy.”

“Those situations were not that dire and I didn’t have enough time to use her.” Her answer was received with arched eyebrows and knowing looks – that the thought probably didn’t occur to her to use the LMD.

“Why would you take her out now?” Piper asked. She was intrigued with this particular Daisybot. What Daisy programmed her to be.

“I’m making her the boss of this starship. Coupled with the original A.I, which I’ve reprogrammed, they will be running this place.”

“Won’t that be dangerous? You’re a hot commodity among bounty hunters. What if they come here and see your doppelganger?”

“That won’t be a problem.” She said confidently.

“How so?” Davis doubted that, but he wanted to know how his boss was planning to safeguard the place from the troubles her reputation could cause.

“I’ve programmed her brain to think and act like me. Well, almost. Besides, I made some enhancement to her physically; enough to fend for herself and probably the station too.”

“She wouldn’t turn against us, right? I almost died when we had those things ran about freely. I’m still not over that experience.”

“Nah. It’ll be all right. As I recalled clearly, one of those Daisybots was the reason you only have those fading scars on your cheek when AIDA raged through the playground.”

“Touché.” Davis conceded.

~~~####~~~~

**_Back to the present_ **

They explained to Magda, Ford and Lexus what happened over a year ago. Relieving the nightmare that was AIDA and her life model decoys left a sour taste in their mouths. Nevertheless, that was in the past and the team did hope that Daisy’s programming and modification of the Daisybot would be enough to ensure the vessel’s safety.

After a while, they went straight to fixing the jumpdrive machine. Even though they had the missing component now, Daisy believed that it was better to have extra parts on the Zephyr. So, she and Magda went to the lab and build a few of them from scratch. The technology on that ship helped them in manufacturing a considerable batch of some of the machine’s components, just in case a repair was unavoidable before they reached Earth.

Then, they fixed the jumpdrive machine and conducted another overall maintenance check for paranoia sake. Satisfied with the results, they were ready to leave.

Their plan however, was postponed when the A.I. announced that a spaceship requested to dock and asked for supplies. Eager to have their new venture started off without a hitch, they decided to be there until this visitor left.

It wasn’t long before the aforementioned spaceship arrived. Their first customer. It was soon followed by another one. They never met any of them nor did they know their species. Nevertheless, they were happy to have customers.

“I never thought we’ll get a customer today, let alone two.”

“I would put that to good omen then. We might just have a booming business this side of the galaxy.” They were delighted with the vessel's potential.

So, they let Daisybot and her mechanical crew dealt with the visitors, while they supervised the operations from the shadows. The three young Inhumans went back to tinkering new projects in the lab. Their time was better spent doing something productive.

Everything seemed to be alright for the time being. Until it wasn’t. And in their typical spacefaring fashion, when things went wrong, they went horribly wrong.

Having paying clients was good, profitable indeed. Little did the crew know that one of those two groups was made up of a bunch of vicious pirates with a diabolical plan. They were planning to ravage the newly installed space station. Having clients who wanted to rob them was totally unbidden. Therefore, driving off undesirable elements from their new business was a top priority.

Obviously, a fight ensued. There were just too many pirates, which resulted in them being outmanned. The other group tried to help but they were but a small group. Even with guns and powers, they couldn’t win. It would be easier if they were willing to kill the pirates. They just did not want to commit multiple murders. Besides, they did not want to damage the place. In a short moment, they were facing such a gruesome frontal attack and started to panic. Laser guns were aimed their way, injuries were prevalent on their persons.

Daisy who was abruptly woken up from the most restful sleep she had ever had in weeks did not appreciate the commotion. With the A.I’s monotonous voice droning in her ear, she marched towards the battlefield silently, seething inside. What she saw annoyed her to no end. It was one thing to have her slumber disturbed when people got involved in a brawl. It was another when said brawl was instigated by scumbags who had the nerve to even dream of robbing her place of business.

In the short time she skippered the Zephyr into supposed piracy as people accused them of; it was never planned as a simple armed robbery for the sake of gaining easy loots. And if they happened to procured something illegally, it was always done discreetly. Unless they were the bad guys, then, all bets were off.

So, even though she was still feeling sleepy, she casually entered the fracas while yawning endlessly; and easily dusted some of them – those who abruptly appeared before her, surprising her into action. She was actually aimed to obliterate the weapons, but…oh well…safety first. No one needed to know that her aim was off. It wasn’t as though she didn’t feel remorse every time she killed; it was just that sometimes, it had to be done. And later, she would retreat into herself in self-hatred and tried to justify her action at the same time. Such was the price she had to pay.

Then, they confronted the captain of the pirates. Daisy gave him and his remaining thugs a chance to leave in peace and never return. But the pirates declined and in return, they attacked again. Daisybot and other androids fought them, until only a handful of them left – a single digit at most. Yet the despicable asshat refused to surrender.

They were perplexed with his stubbornness. Even being surrounded by a large number of opponents, he still refused to back down. It only dawned on them the reason he was so smug during their confrontation – the captain of the pirate had a powerful ability and he demonstrated it to the masses when he destroyed a couple of bots on the starship. It incensed both Lexus and Daisy who worked hard in building and configuring those bots.

He tried to attack them again but before he could, Daisy exploded his heart and then, issued an ultimatum to the rest of the pirates – surrender and they got to live another day or she would send them on a free trip to the netherworld. A few attacked in retaliation and Daisy accidentally atomized them. Only a few (the intelligent ones and the cowards) accepted her condition and submitted themselves to serve the notorious Quake. But Daisy told them to leave.

After their guests left (including the other group who helped), the six of them along with all mechanical helpers, cleaned up the space station. They repaired all that needed to be repaired. Daisy also upgraded the level of fortification of the place and built more bots to help in the station’s operations. She even programmed some of them as her security squad and wrote a stricter safety protocol for the starship. 

The guests and the remaining pirates who survived the encounter with Quake and her team spread the story of their prowess and notoriety further within and beyond the Milky Way. If they embellished the truth with made up narratives, nobody would ever know except those who were on that starship that day. However they spun the tale, it only catapulted her reputation and more stories were heard in the conversations among the space travellers. Although most of them were exaggerated.

Someday, months and years later, whenever the Zephyr’s crew and the Inhuman trio heard any of those gossips, one could hear them muttered ‘Oh, how the rumors fly.’

And thus the ill-repute Quake and her crew rose further up in stardom within the space community and would continue to rise in years to come. And the aforementioned Space Menace relished in that reputation, not even shy of utilizing it when it suited her purposes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter will be up in a couple of days…maybe…once I could find the time to proofread it (^_^’). But it is done.


	5. Home At Last

Daisy was having a last minute conversation with Ford while the rest of them were already on board their respective spaceships, doing pre-flight checks. They had similar discussion last night. Ford assured Daisy that if she focused her power with pinpoint accuracy, she could harness the potential of her ability to a much higher level.

She proved it the day before when she made the pirate’s heart explode. She had also showed that she could break bodies and things down to their molecular levels. Therefore, she could also manipulate veins and blood flows and a lot of other things. That in and of itself presented her with a lot of options in a battle. All she got to do was focus on the vibrational frequencies of her targets and everything around her; and then utilized them to her advantage.

Ford was impressed with her power. He hoped Daisy would continue experimenting with it. Thus, making herself more flexible in wielding it better. It’d make her more creative and therefore a stronger fighter because they still had to fend off the Chronicoms and the Confederacy. Plus, in the future, the world might need her help one day when new enemy emerged.

Later, they said goodbye to each other and went on towards their destinations. Daisybot was there at the docking bay to bid them goodbye and to secure the facility right after they left.

~~~~####~~~~

They came out of the wormhole near a moon of planet Mars, not far from a pretty large spaceship they did not recognise. It didn’t look like it belonged to the Confederacy or the Chronicoms, though they could never be sure of that. Great! Another enemy so near to earth. The repaired but still battered Zephyr One was in no shape to face another battle in space, let alone winning against a larger vessel. The team could only hope that it was only passing through.

Nevertheless, they better not engaged in any sorts of interaction with that unknown party in any way, shape or form. So, they immediately put on an extra layer of cloaking mechanism and flew away from that area. Despite their hasty retreat, they still managed to get some information on the mysterious fleet - quite a number of living bodies and a source of volatile energy - through their enhanced scanner the ghosts helped improved. It was best to be ready if their home was threatened from space. A vessel that big would devastate Earth.

Confirming the coordinates for earth, they loaded the last remaining jump cell into the jumpdrive and zoomed through the wormhole they created. They emerged near Earth. Taking a long breath of relief, they opened a communication channel with S.H.I.E.L.D. It took a few tries. They only managed to contact the Lighthouse once they entered the planet’s lower atmosphere.

~~~~####~~~~

**_The Lighthouse, Earth._ **

Mack was talking with Dr. Marcus Benson regarding the monoliths when there was a static sound of a radio crackling. He was hopeful that that was their friends.

“Redirect our transceivers. Get a lock on that signal.”

[ _Lighthouse Control, this is Zephyr One. Requesting permission to land._ ]

The sound of Daisy’s voice was received with cheers and applause.

Mack waited no longer. He zoomed towards the hallway where the nearest entrance to the hangar was located and waited patiently for them to come through the door. Yo-Yo was not far behind. The sight of Daisy walking down the steps soothed his worry a bit.

“Welcome back.” Yo-Yo hugged Piper, welcoming her home.

“I never thought I'd be so happy to see this dirty, old place.”

“Amen, brother.”

He could see that Daisy only smiled at Yo-yo’s direction but didn’t go to hug her. Daisy was a physically affectionate person. To see that she didn’t even hug the Latina told Mack that she still felt awkward for how thing was before they embarked on the journey in space. However, now, he was just happy to have her back on earth. Besides, he believed that those girls would be back to the way they were before very soon. Facing a possibly world ending catastrophe made for a great bonding time. He and Daisy went through a similar thing too, a few years ago.

“Tremors.”

“Director.” He embraced her, taking in the feeling of relief after months of worrying about the Z1’s crew.

“Hi.” They chuckled. When he let her go, he didn’t see Fitz and Simmons. That was something to be concerned about.

“Where are Fitz and Simmons?”

She didn’t get the chance to reply because an agent came to report that May caught someone. The revelation of what happened while they were in space would surely shock them. Although they were eager to restock the Zephyr and return to space, Mack knew that he had to hold off their plan because they were needed here. Besides, Fitz and Simmons were together. They’d be alright.

Later, when they had a downtime, Daisy told them about the alien ship they saw near Mars. The team was to prepare for another possible invasion from space. They just hoped that they wouldn’t have to face them now. They had enough on their plates!

~~~~####~~~~

**_Somewhere in Space_ **

Fitz and Simmons were saved by Enoch and they teleported back to Kitson. Immediately after they appeared, the couple was apprehended. Soon, they were bought by Izel and the scientists were freed from the execution sanctioned by Mr. Kitson.

The three Inhumans arrived at Kitson after they heard a rumor of a pair of Terrans facing execution over the broadcasting channel they tapped into. However, they were a little too late. Izel already took Fitz and Simmons with her. They tried to chase, but they got no clue how or where they were headed.

They heard about a third person – a bald man. So, they went looking for him. And found him struggling with another man.

“Need some help pal?”

“I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

So, they watched the uncomfortable bald man dealt with the other guy. Once he was done, they introduced themselves. Enoch, as the bald man called himself, was a Chronicom who was a friend to Fitz – the one the Zephyr One crew was looking for.

They found out that Izel took Fitz and Simmons to Earth. At the same time, they learned that the Chronicoms were planning to invade Earth and turn it into Chronica-3 – a new planet for their brethren.

They helped Enoch dealt with the remains of his anthropologist ex-friend turned hunter; and then snuck him onboard the Chronicom’s ship with his newly acquired skin. Reassured that the earthlings were all accounted for, they sent a message to Z1. Although they didn’t know how long it would take the message to reach them.

As per the plan they hatched with Enoch, the trio set course for Earth. Without a jumpdrive technology on their spaceship, they couldn’t teleport. However, its speed could make up for that. It would just take them a little bit more time to reach their destination, barred any hindrances along the way.

On their way off of the planet of Kitson, they couldn’t help but to gawk at the multitude of posters of Daisy, Fitz, Enoch and Simmons as wanted persons there. And the amount they offered was staggering. Especially Daisy. Huh? Daisy might be even more notorious than they originally thought.

And so Magda, Ford and Lexus sailed through space en route to Earth to provide back up. The blue planet was too close to the moon. The moon might be affected. Though their space force regiment was regularly patrolling the nearby space area, the trio didn’t think that they could win against the Chronicoms’ large fleet. So, saving Earth meant saving its natural satellite. Oh well, they might visit home after all.

~~~~####~~~~

**_The New Zephyr One_ **

They were flying above New York in 1931. After the disaster they left behind in the 21st century, Daisy finally had the time to breathe and rest. She was preparing a cup of tea in the kitchen when Enoch approached her.

“Tea?”

“That would be lovely.”

Daisy took another cup from the cabinet, put a tea bag in it and poured the hot water. She let the tea steeped for a while until it reached the point just the way she liked it. She poured two teaspoons of sugar for Enoch and one for her. Once that was done, she handed Enoch his cuppa.

“Thank you.”

“How did you come back? You were not with Fitz and Simmons when they returned.”

“I snuck onto the Chronicom’s ship, wearing the skin of one of the hunters they sent to cross me off.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know they could change skins.

“Your friends helped me at Kitson.” Daisy crinkled the bridge of her nose in confusion.

“I thought Fitz and Simmons were immediately captured by Mr. Kitson. Then, they were with Izel. When did they get the time to help you?”

“Not them. Your other friends.” Recognition dawned on Daisy.

“Ah. The trio. How were they doing?”

“They seemed fine to me.”

Enoch told her what happened before he left them and what the Inhumans were planning. Daisy was hopeful that perhaps her friends could lend a hand to their plight. They talked some more before Enoch handed her an electronic photo frame Magda passed to him.

She saw their pictures throughout their misadventures, smiling all the way. She kind of missed them. Oh well, they would meet again someday. This new Zephyr was awesome, they might be able to travel in space again or at least visit the trio’s homeland. Her eyes were wide as she saw the last four pictures stored in there.

“What the heck?”

“Oh, you were quite famous there.” Enoch smiled.

They had WANTED posters in space. That was not news. The San-i-Tarians were still hunting them after all, among others. But these were issued by Kitson. And the amount they offered for their capture was a lot. She guessed Mr. Kitson was pretty angry with them, well, mostly her as the bounty for her hides was 10 times the amount of all the others' combined. It was understandable. Daisy did trash the casino that one time. Plus, the theft she couldn’t resist from committed there on the side. That was bound to make the old man angry. Oh well, it was for survival and she was high on bad little puffies.

“They also wanted to pass something to you. The girl actually.” Enoch gave her a few casino chips.

“Chips?”

“And a dare. She said you’d know.”

She raised an eyebrow. Then, she grinned. Enoch looked at her, a little puzzled.

“Very well. Challenge accepted.”

“I don’t understand. What is the dare?”

“She wants me to return to Kitson and make another mess at the casino.” Daisy chuckled.

“I see. What did you do that made Mr. Kitson offered that amount?” He asked curiously.

“Oh, just the normal things I do in space.”

There was a lull moment as Enoch pondered that vague answer. They finished their tea and washed their cups.

“So, Enoch, I don’t see Fitz. Where is he? Simmons said she cannot know.”

“You are correct. But I assure you that he is safe. You make sure of that.”

Daisy was quietly contemplating the rogue Chronicom’s words. Then, she looked up at him as it dawned on her.

“I guess I should have worded my question differently.” Enoch stared at her expectantly. “Instead of ‘where’, I should have used ‘when’.”

“That, I cannot say.”

“I see. As long as he is safe.”

“He is indeed.”

“Well, it’s nice talking to you. I’ll head to my bunk now. Big day tomorrow. Just answer me this one question.” Enoch tilted his head expectantly. “This other me, is she older or a different version?”

“Definitely the former though you aged really well. Not much different from you are now.”

Daisy’s smile was wide. She was about to leave after saying good night when Enoch told her something that rendered her speechless; but not for long.

“By the way, thanks for the plane.” Her eyes widened. “And the upgrades.” Her jaw dropped and she was left stunned and frozen to the spot.

“What? What do you mean? Enoch?” Her questions were blatantly ignored by the Chronicom as he left the kitchen.

“Wait. You can’t just drop something like that and then leave!”

“Good night, Agent Johnson.”

She was still frozen there when Deke walked into the kitchen for dessert, some 20 minutes later (maybe, she didn’t look at the clock, she was still processing). The man actually shrieked.

“Daisy, what are you doing here at this hour, in the dark and why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”

**_~ The End ~_ **


End file.
